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An intimate look at
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NEWYORKER.COM
66 THE NEW YORKER, AUGUST 9, 2010
.
lish their superiority over the Americans
and the Red Chinese. Should these foes
come spilling across the borders, they
would encounter a daunting column,
ready to repulse them with heroic dis-
plays of running, jumping, shot-putting,
and small-arms fire.
Before the start of the events, Alec
sought Polin a out and tried to strike a
bargain with her. He told her that he
wanted to see her again.
''You're seeing me now," Polin a said.
" 0 . " Al . d " All
ne more evenIng, ec SaI .
I ask. In the scheme of a life, what's one
evening?"
"Depends who you spend it with."
"A valid point," Alec said.
To reach the decision, Alec proposed
a contest. Ifhe scored better at the rifle
range, Polina would grant him another
evening; if she scored better, he would
leave her in peace.
"I should warn you in advance," Alec
said. "Last summer, in the officers'-
training rotation, I placed eighth in
marksmanship."
"Out of how many?" Polina asked.
" S . " Al . d
lXteen, ec SaI .
'That doesn't sound very good," Po-
lina said.
' 'N . d ,,, Al . d " Th ' h
0, It oesn t, ec sal. ats t e
. d "
1 ea.
"I don't understand," Polina said.
"Well, I was specifically trying for
eighth place."
"Why is that?"
"In the Army, it's best to be some-
where in the middle. Trouble usually
finds those at the bottom or at the top."
" S h '
o you mean to say t at you re a
good shot?"
"Eighth place," Alec said.
"In that case, I should tell you that
two years ago at Readiness for Labor
and Defense I finished second in my de-
partment. They awarded me a ribbon
and printed my name in the factory
newspaper. My husband pasted a copy
of it into an album."
Alec noticed that Polina didn't bran-
dish the word "husband" like a cudgel.
She seemed to place the same emphasis
" h b d " h d . d ". bb " d
on us an as s e 1 on rl on an
"album." But Alec wasn't fool enough to
believe that she'd included the word in-
nocently. In a sense, since she hadn't un-
equivocally rebuffed him, anything she
said about her husband bordered on be-
trayal. Any information Alec had about
him was information that he could use
against him. For instance, the fact that
he was the kind of man who would save
something printed in the factory's idiotic
newspaper. Then again it was possible
that Polina found such a gesture endear-
ing. She might have been implying that
this was precisely the kind of man she
wanted. A man unlike Alec, who, in his
ironical sophistication, couldn't hope to
access or appreciate such pure, senti-
mental feeling.
But, whatever she meant, she had
tacitly agreed to the contest.
Refereeing the shooting range was
V olodya Zobodkin, one of the circle of
young Jews with whom Alec and Karl
played soccer on the beach at Majori.
When V olodya distributed the rifles,
Alec asked if he could have one with a
reliable sight.
'Who are you? Zaitsev?" V olodya
said. "This isn't the Battle of Stalin grad.
Just aim in the general direction of the
"
target.
"Do you have one with an adjusted
sight or not?" Alec persisted.
"What's with you?" Volodya asked.
"Have you been drinking? It's not even
lunch."
Without much elaboration, Alec told
V olodya what he'd arranged. V olodya
glanced quickly at Polin a, raised an ap-
proving eyebrow, and sorted through
the stack of rifles for something suitable.
He handed a rifle to Alec and then
offered to find another, grossly inferior
one, for Polina.
"There's one here that practically
shoots sideways," V olodya said.
But that wasn't the kind of contest
Alec wanted, largely because he sensed
that it wasn't the kind of contest Polina
would accept. She seemed like the type
who respected rules, including rules that
dictated the breaking of other rules.
Alec shot first. For all his pride at
having placed eighth, he had to admit
that he couldn't compare the effort re-
quired to achieve mediocrity with that
required to achieve excellence. Every-
thing naturally flowed toward medi-
ocrity; for this, the world needed little
in the way of your coöperation. Whereas
total incompetence or extreme profi-
ciency demanded some application.
To his credit and mild surprise, Alec
shot well. V olodya called for ceasefire
and presented Alec with his perforated